A Thank You Note To The Town Of Pittsfield
Ifreet, Ula, and Aimen, the Pittsfield Exchange Students.
Learning last year that we had earned scholarships from the US
State Department to study in America seems so long ago now.
After spending months of taking English tests, traveling great
distances to interviews, and waiting for what felt like ages to
hear, our wildest dreams were all of a sudden granted.
There we were, last August, boarding planes for the unknown.
Leaving our home countries bound for America was not easy, but
thanks to this welcoming town, we found the strength and courage
to fall in love with Pittsfield and make it our second home.
As our senior year draws to a close, so does our exchange year.
We are excited to see our families again, but very sad to be
leaving at the same time. We will be taking back so many great
memories, like our first basketball tournament, first drama
performance, first Prom, best friends, and so much more.
But none of this would have been possible without the wonderful
people here. For that we want to express our sincere gratitude
to everyone who helped make our experience so amazing, and we
know this year will live in our hearts forever.
Of course our biggest thanks goes out to our loving host
families and the fantastic Pittsfield Middle High School
administration, teachers, staff, and school board for giving us
the best year of our lives and an incredible insight into
American life and culture. We would also like to thank Jack’s
Pizza and Ping Garden for making us feel so at home and for
helping us along the way.
We hope you all enjoyed learning about our countries and
cultures, and are proud to have been your 2014-2015 Pittsfield
exchange students from Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. We
will call ourselves ‘Pittsfield Panthers’ forever!
We hope that some of you out there might open
your hearts and families up for the next school year so the
program can continue. Students like Ana from Bosnia, a 17 year
old girl who likes hiking, camping, painting, animals, and
sewing, or Iyad from Jordan, a 16 year old boy who likes soccer,
basketball, baseball, and camping, would love to have the same
opportunities we had this year. If you want to learn more about
hosting a student, call our Community Coordinator Kris Hales at
269-7760 or e mail her at
[email protected]
